News you should know tonight: Top 5 stories you may have missed on July 7, 2025
Good evening, IOL News family!
It's Monday, July 7, 2025, and it's time for a wrap of the biggest headlines making waves in South Africa and beyond. Don't forget to join the IOL WhatsApp Channel to stay in tune, informed, and in the know.
Doubts surround potential probe into allegations of police corruption
Questions are mounting over the likelihood and sincerity of any investigation into allegations raised by KZN police head General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, amid concerns about political bias and systemic corruption. To read on, click here.
Murder of Ekurhuleni auditor tied to probe into R2bn electricity billing scandal
The murder of Mpho Mafole, the group divisional head for corporate and forensic audits at the City of Ekurhuleni municipality, has sent shockwaves through the city. To read on, click here.
Ramaphosa urged to make the allegations against Mchunu his top priority upon return from Brazil
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been urged to make the allegations lobbied against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu by KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi his top priority when he returns to the country. To read on, click here.
Bottom of the bottle: SAPS vows action after drunk-on-duty allegation goes viral
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed that an urgent investigation is under way following the circulation of a widely viewed video on TikTok, which appears to show a uniformed police officer allegedly under the influence of alcohol while on duty.To read on, click here.
Analysts warn of a policing crisis as Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi claims of corruption rock SAPS
Analysts warn that South Africa stands at a perilous crossroads as shocking revelations of police sabotage and corruption threaten to unravel the very fabric of the policing system. To read on, click here.
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Daily Maverick
8 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Western Cape Hawks boss appointed as acting Crime Intelligence commissioner
The appointment follows the arrest of the unit's commissioner, Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, last month. There's been a change in the leadership of the Crime Intelligence division, with the appointment of Major General Mathipa Solomon Makgato as acting divisional commissioner of Crime Intelligence. This follows the arrest of the division's commissioner, Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, last month on charges of fraud and corruption relating to the appointment of an unqualified civilian in a senior post within the SAPS. Before Khumalo's arrest on 26 June, the South African Police Service (SAPS) had warned that Khumalo was being targeted for cleaning up Crime Intelligence. According to the SAPS, the targeting involved ' fake news ' and accusations that Khumalo was appointing people aligned with him. Khumalo had been head of the unit since December 2022. Makgato was the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (also known as the Hawks) in the Western Cape. National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola announced Makgato's appointment at a press conference on Wednesday, 9 July. 'He brings to this position a wealth of experience and knowledge in the intelligence and detective space, with 36 years' service in both environments in SAPS. He holds a BTech degree in Policing as well as a National Diploma in Police Administration. 'We have full confidence in Major General Mokgato and we trust that his leadership will enhance sufficiency and maintain stability within crime intelligence,' said Masemola. Masemola said that Khumalo, along with the other six Crime Intelligence officers who were arrested last month, had been temporarily moved from the unit. 'Following the arrest of the Divisional Commissioner of Crime Intelligence, Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, and six others, on Thursday, 26 June … the human resource division of the SAPS has processed the matter in line with the SAPS disciplinary regulations of 2016. 'All seven senior officers have been temporarily transferred out of the division of Crime Intelligence, pending more information which we have requested from Idac [Investigating Directorate Against Corruption], that will indicate to us as to what further course of action we can take,' said Masemola. 'Highly politicised and secretive' Underpinning Masemola's announcements were the remarkable revelations of KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Sunday, which exposed serious divisions in South Africa's law-enforcing arena. Mkhwanazi inferred that the Crime Intelligence arrests had been intentionally driven by individuals keen to see the unit implode. The head of Justice and Violence Prevention at the Institute for Security Studies, Gareth Newham, told Daily Maverick the Crime Intelligence unit had become ' highly politicised ', largely because of its secretive nature and 'the vast resources' at its disposal. 'There's hard evidence, over many years, that that agency has largely been seen as a tool to support political agendas as opposed to actually tackling organised crime, and because of that, it hasn't been providing necessary intelligence to a range of different structures. 'Crime Intelligence has played an active and destabilising role in politics and policing for a long time,' he said. The division itself, Newham said, was very large, with an annual budget of nearly R4-billion. 'It operates with high levels of secrecy, and doesn't even report to the police portfolio committee [in Parliament] — it reports to the Standing Committee on Intelligence, whose meetings are closed and who hardly ever releases reports,' he said. Newham said what was needed to address the challenges in the Crime Intelligence area was a high-level review panel, similar to the one that was set up in 2018 and headed by former safety and security minister Sydney Mufamadi, to probe the organisational integrity of the State Security Agency. 'You would need quite a strong and well-protected structure, that has the necessary clearance and expertise, to do a deep, thorough drive over a period of time to find out exactly what it is doing and how those resources are being used, and then to make recommendations about whether we need such a single, massive, unaccountable division, or whether a large part of that should be decentralised to specific components,' he said. Newham said that, in an acting role, Makgato was essentially in the position to provide 'some kind of leadership stability'. 'It's highly unlikely that any one person can make much of a difference,' he said. DM
IOL News
10 hours ago
- IOL News
News you should know tonight: Top 5 stories you may have missed on July 9, 2025
Good evening, IOL News family! It's Wednesday, July 9, 2025, and it's time for a wrap of the biggest headlines making waves in South Africa and beyond. Don't forget to join the IOL WhatsApp Channel to stay in tune, informed, and in the know. National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza says no to debate on Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi's bombshell claims National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza has refused to allow a debate on the explosive remarks made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi but has assigned three committees to urgently investigate the matter. To read on, click here. Another cold front expected to rip through the western parts of South Africa The South African Weather Service (SAWS) is predicting very cold, as well as wet and windy conditions in the Western Cape and Northern Cape. To read on, click here. Your grant is safe: SASSA dismisses false claims of mass re-registration and suspension The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has moved to calm the nerves of millions of social grant beneficiaries following the circulation of a fake video on social media, which "falsely claims that all recipients must re-register or risk losing their grants". To read on, click here. DA's Ian Cameron apologises to Shauwn Mkhize over 'wrong Vusi' claim after legal threat Democratic Alliance parliamentary police committee chair Ian Cameron has publicly apologised to Durban business tycoon Shauwn Mkhize, admitting he mistakenly named businessman Vusi 'Cat' Matlala over guns found on her property, while they belonged to businessman Vusi Xaba. To read on, click here. 'Mind-boggling' delay in R898 million driver's licence contract case Six months after the Department of Transport announced plans to approach the courts for a declaratory order on a controversial contract with French tech firm IDEMIA, the matter has yet to be heard. To read on, click here. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. IOL News
Eyewitness News
11 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
Ekurhuleni DA wants SIU to take over matter that auditor Mpho Mafole died investigating
Thabiso Goba 9 July 2025 | 15:23 City of Ekurhuleni Democratic Alliance (DA) Slain Ekurhuleni municipality auditor Mpho Mafole will be laid to rest on Sunday, 6 July 2025. Picture: Sphamandla Dlamini/EWN. JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni wants the Special Investigating Unit to take over the "missing billions" probe which the city's slain auditor, Mpho Mafole, died investigating. Earlier this year, the metro lost over R2 billion in revenue as a result of thousands of breached electricity accounts. Mafole, the city's former divisional head of forensic auditing, was looking into the matter before he was killed in a hail of bullets in June. ALSO READ: Xhakaza believes murder of City of Ekurhuleni auditor linked to his probe into missing R2bn DA Ekurhuleni caucus leader, Brandon Pretorius, said that the party trusted the SIU to get to the bottom of the case. "We cannot allow for a precedent to be set where certain professions in the public service, who work to combat corruption, are targeted. Whistle blowers, trying to end corruption, cannot become collateral, while the corrupt act with impunity. The DA will lay these charges, as we are committed to ensuring accountability and restoring integrity within our democratic society." Special Investigating Unit probes can only be triggered through a proclamation by the state president.
